Well choker



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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HUBER/I E. ALLEN AND PEXTON F. MURRAY, OF WH ITTIER, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNORS TO ALLEN & COURTNEY OIL TOOL COMPANY, OF COMPTON, CALIFORNIA, A CO- PARTNERSHIP.

WELL CHOKER.

Application filed February 14, 1924. Serial No. 692,849.

T all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, HUBERT E. ALLEN and PEXTON F. MURRAY, citizens of the United States, and residents of Whittier,

in the county of Los Angeles and State of California, have invented a new and useful Well Choker, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a device to be lo used on a line leading from an oil well to choke or reduce the flow of the well.

In the production of oil and gas from wells frequently high gas pressure is encountered when the well penetrates'into the oil or gas sand with the result that oil or gas or both flow from the well under high pressure carrying along a considerable quantity of sand and similar material. It frequently happens in such cases that a sufzo ficient gaspressure exists to make the well flow such a quantity of oil or gas that provisions, such as storage tanks, are not avail- I able or sufiicient to hold the fluid from the well, or the well may start produclng at a time when there is an overproduction of oil and an insufiicient market for all the oil the well might produce. It is further found that when an. oil well is permitted to flow freely, or no provision is made to cut down or choke the natural flow of the well, the well will tend to sand up or draw water into the oil formation or sand with the result that the total quantity of oil which can be drawn from such a well is less than could be ohtained if the same well was choked or pinched down to a smaller capacity during its initial flow.

For such reasons the operators of oil wells generally desire to cut down the initial capacity of the well so that the flow of the well is built up gradually and that the well is kept at all times under control. In this way the flow from the well can be reduced to the capacity of the storage tanks or an overproduction of oil prevented and the well at the same time prevented from sanding up so that the life of the well and oil sands is increased.

Due to the aforementioned sand which accompanies the flow of the fluid from the well special means must be provided for choking or cutting down the flow of the well which means is of sturdy construction, easy and inexpensive to replace. Certain devices the well is permitted to flow.

commonly referred to as flow beans are employed in the art which comprise a heavy thick-walled piece of steel or iron having a small opening through which the fluid from These beans are placed in various places in the flowline from the oil well.

The object of the present invention is to provide a device for choking or cutting down the flow of the well in which a bean is included that may be more readily replaced as the bean Wears or when it is desired to either increase or decrease the supply of oil flowing from the Well than the devices for this purpose which are at present in use in the oil fields.

More specifically, an important object of the present invention is to provide such a device that may be permanently connected with an oil storage tank or other place where the oil is to be delivered and a bean incorporated into the device which may be removed and replaced without disconnecting either the device or line from the well or storage tank.

Another object of this invention is to provide a device suitable for choking or inching the production of high pressure oi wells which device will be exceedingly efficient and economical in construction.

Other objects and advantages of the prescut invention will be apparent from the description of the preferred embodiment of the invention in a deep well apparatus.

Reference therefore is made to the accompanying drawings in which Figure 1 is an elevation of an apparatus embodying the present invention; and

Fig. 2 is a vertical section through one of the cross members shown in Fig. 1 showing the manner of inserting or removing the bean employed in this invention.

In the drawin s 1 indicates a line leadin up from an oi well which is connecte through a gate valve 2 to a. head 3 preferably of the Christmas tree type, and the construction of which is well known in the art, the Christmas tree 3 being connected at its upper end through a gate valve 4 to a gage such as indicated at 5. The well connects through the head or Christmas tree 3 with a plurality of take-off lines each line being provided with a gate valve 6 and hence connected to a cross member 7, the construc-v tion of which is more clearly shown in Fig ure 2. The cross member is provided with two male joints 8 and 9, respectively, opposite which are two female joints 10 and 11, respectively. The male joint 9 includes a steel flow bean 12 preferably having a head 13 or other means by which'the bean may be gripped and inserted in place within the crossmember 7. The head 13 is located on the inner end of the bean 12 and preferably terminates at the end of the male joint 9 although it may extend a slight distance further into the cross member. Means are provided such as the internal threads 14, illustrated, for holding the bean 12 within the joint 9. The bean 12 is provided with an axial bore 18 of a size which depends upon the quantity of fluid which is to be permitted to flow from the well line 1, this bore 18 being substantially smaller in diameter than the diameter of the well pipe 7 antliI operates to check or pinch back the we The female joint 11 opposite the male joint 9 receives a bull plug 15 which is preferably somewhat larger in diameter than the diameter of the bean 12 and can be removed from the joint 11 so that the bean may be screwed or unscrewed from its place in the cross member 7 by-such means as a socket wrench 16 as illustrated in Figure 2. It will be noted that this change may be made without in any manner disturbing the connection between cross member 7 and the lines leading to or from the member. In use, the outflow line of course is connected to the male joint 9.

' The male joint 8 is screwed into the gate valve 6 as indicated in Figure 1, and the oppositely disposed female joint 10 receives a bull plug 17 or similar device which acts as a cushion or wear member against which the sand forced from the well is directed. This member 17 may be replaced when worn.

In operation, it is apparent that,when it is necessary to replace or remove the flow bean 12 from the cross member, the gate valve 6 leading to said member is closed and the bull plug 15 removed; the socket 'wrench 16 may then be inserted and will remove the bean 12 without disconnecting the cross member from the oil line and without requiring but a few minutes for the replacing operation. During this time of course the force of the well is permitted to pass through the opposed cross member. The ability to remove the bean within a short period of time is a very important advantage of the present invention in that if a long lperiod of time is necessary to remove suc ean the well may become choked and sanded up as the op adequate to permit t be confined to such line for a material period osed line may not be e flow of the well to of time. Als0, under certain conditions, the 2 pressure within the well will continually be built up upon closing of one of the gate valves 6 with the danger that the well may get out of control. It will be observed that the bean 12 is not worn by the sand forced through the joint 9 of the cross member except as drawn through the opening 19, no part of the bean 12 being disposed between the joint 8 and wear plug 17.

Vhile the invention has been illustrated in its preferred form, it is understood that the invention is not limited to the details of construction as before pointed out, but various modifications made be made and are within the scope of the appended claims.

We claim:

1. A device of the class described comprising a cross member containing a bean in the outflow joint of the cross member, said bean being out of the inflow path of the fluid entering said cross member.

2. A device of the class described comprising a cross member having two male joints opposite two female joints, a bean screw threaded into one of said male joints, and plugs inserted in said female joints.

3. A device of the class described comprising a cross member having two male joints arranged opposite to two female joints, a bean threaded into one of the male joints and having a head on one end, and bull plugs positioned in the female joints.

4. A device'of the class described comprising a cross member having a male outflow joint, a female joint opposite the male outflow joint, a bull plug positioned in said joint, an inflow joint, and a female joint opposite said inflow joint and provided with a wear member, said bean being arranged so that it is substantially out ofthe path of oil flowing from said inflow joint to said cushioning member.

5. A device of the class described comprising a cross member having a male outflow joint, a female joint opposite the male outflow joint, a bull plug positioned in said joint, an inflow joint, a female joint opposite said inflow joint and provided with a wear member, and a flow bean positioned in the outflow joint, said bean being arranged so that it is substantially out of the path of oil flowing from said inflow joint to said cushioning member and provided with means permitting said bean to engage a tool inserted through said first mentioned female joint.

6. In a device of the class described, a head connected toa plurality of separate gate valves, cross members connected to each gate valve, beans threaded 'within the discharge joint of, the cross members and provided with means'for manipulating said bean with tools inserted through other joints of the cross member.

7. A device of the class described comprising two pairs of oppositely disposed jo1nts,a bean secured withinone of said joints and plugs securedin two adjacent joints one "of which is opposite the joint within which the bean is secured.

8. A device of the class described comprising a cross member having two pairs of oppositely disposed joints, a bean secured within one of said joints and a bull plug secured within one of said joints adjacent the 'joint in which the bean is secured.

9. A device of the class described comprising a cross "inember having two pairs of -oppositely disposed joints, a .bean secured 15 of the fluid entering the said cross mem 20 her.

Signed at Whittier, California, this 5th dayof January 1924.

HUBERT E. ALLEN. PEXTON F. MURRAY. 

